Hopeless Romantic

I am in love with love. And yes I can't stop believing in fairy tales. I am an idealist, a sentimental dreamer, and imaginative fanciful person. Simply put love is an art form. And NO! I'm not taking these rose colored glasses off any time soon.

I've often looked at all the jaded people and worried that I would become one of them. After all I have had my moments of losing faith in mankind. However as soon as I see something slightly romantic I snap back like Doug in the movie UP seeing a squirrel. I just love to dream. To me there is nothing better in this life than to be romanced with sweet simple things and thoughtful amazing surprises.

As many of you know by my blog I believe in passion, chivalry, and true love. What makes a Hopeless romantic "Hopeless" is the fact that we are few and far between but I guess "Not very likely romantic" doesn't have the same ring to it.

Love is what drives me day to day. The thought of having more meaningful connections with the people I care about most in life is what gets me up in the morning. I fall in love with love more every day.

I have friends that get hurt by love every day. I try not to be the person that allows feelings of love to override my common sense. That being said being a realest may help us not get hurt but I would not triad it for the cynicism that comes with embracing an imperfect world.

You may say I prefer not to live in reality, I say perception IS an individual's reality. I may seem unsettling or borderline crazy to non-romantics. However I continue to write these blogs so my fellows will embrace the romantic inside of you. I'm sure if you open up these gestures will be adored, granted they are obscenely quixotic. Just knowing that someone is thinking of me makes me smile, and holding my hand makes me feel like I can fly. Love is magic. <3

Zip Line and Sink Her

I surprised Angela with a romantic getaway to Catalina Island this past weekend. I love Angela so much and it’s amazing how much fun we have together! It’s important to keep as stress-free as possible so we needed a perfect romantic getaway.

The most important thing in my life is the connection I share with Angela.  As always, the bond between us gets stronger as we spend more time together.  We all need relaxed time away from the pressure of our daily responsibilities. When we boarded the Catalina express it was like boarding a ship away from life’s hassles. 

When we arrived on the island Friday night it was raining and we hustled to our tent cabin to lie down. We could hear the rain loudly on the tents large tarp roof. We felt so relaxed and were able to lower our inhibitions and connect like never before. Everything was perfect.  We felt we were one with nature and as our love intensified, like magic so did the rain. We live in a fairy tale. 

The rain cleared up for the rest of the trip and when we awoke the following morning we lazily walked around one of the cutest cities in the world. If you have never been to Catalina Island they use golf carts as cars and everyone is very nice. They have cute little shops everywhere and we took our time exploring. When we got breakfast I told Angela about our plans for a zip line adventure that I had planned in the evening!

Stepping off each precipice to zip line over the lush green island from over 600ft was romantic and exhilarating. We zip lined for over 2 hours and the whole time we could see the sunset over the ocean. Near the end we got to experience night zip lining! After zip lining we went to the arcade and ate BBQ chicken pizza. Needless to say the whole trip made us feel quite elated.

After staying in our cute little tent Saturday night we decided to leave the island and come back home for a nice nap in our own bed. Definitely one of the best valentine’s weekends I’ve ever had! And last valentine’s day we did this! 

Guide to getting and keeping a happy woman.

It seems like a lot of men these days are stumped on how to get a woman or keep them happy so this is to them. It goes without saying that I don't know everything about this subject but here is my take on it.

 
Having a deep intimate connection with your partner is the most important aspect of my relationship. So please take this first step and ask yourself why you are pursuing this woman. If it’s only her looks or to gratify your pride walk away... Better yet run away. Someone WILL get hurt if you take a shallow approach here.

I am writing this because so many of my female friends seem to have bad experiences with intimacy from guys. This extends to long term relationships or dating new men.  I’m also not surprised after I’ve heard things from guys like “You have to be mean to women, they like it!” (He’s divorced) or “Women are too complicated, even they don’t know what they want!”  

Whether it’s true or not most women feel men are creeptastic. Ultimately a woman wants to feel comfortable; this should be your number one priority. Hopefully you are not thinking “if a woman is comfortable that’s how you get friend zoned right?” 

That is only true if you fail to make your intentions clear. The fact is most Women are afraid of men. First you have to prove that you’re not going to be scary. Depending on the women’s experiences this can prove to be an easy or a VERY hard task. For some women all it takes is a soothing foreign accent or guys that can make them laugh and they slip off into a dreamy state of comfort. But watch out! It could be a long journey of proving you are nothing like her deadbeat dad or abusive ex. Whatever it ends up being it’s only when she feels comfortable that pursuing a deep intimate relationship becomes possible.

Be confident! Notice I didn’t say “lead her” or “take charge”. Women want to feel taken care of just like men want to feel taken care of.  If you both know where you’re going in life you can go there hand in hand. This is when you take steps closer to her and see if she gives you the signal that she wants you to take more. Keep the relationship interesting by finding out what she likes and make it happen for her. If she’s outdoorsy plan a picnic or camping trip. If she likes movies take her to one. If she likes food take her to her favorite restaurant or cook for her. 

Feeling like your relationship is one-sided can be painful and upsetting. Guys, if she's not thinking "Oh, I have it really good," "I'm blessed," or "I love him more than I could ever imagine." It could be a matter of time before your relationship starts to drag. Please ask her if she's feeling bored, insecure, or taken for granted. Just opening that communication could be what saves both of you hard times ahead. 

Woman Crush Wednesday

For this Woman Crush Wednesday I would like to take a moment to swoon over someone that is simply incredible in every way! Being with Angela is the best decision I ever made!

I would like you all to read what someone said after stumbling on a website like this one: 

“I found this website last night after another tough discussion that occurs during hard times.

I have been struggling to give the requested affirmations when there are no reasons to give them.

If I have to 'hold her hand' through everything she needs to do when she used to be able to do them?

How can I praise her that she cycled 80 km today, when she would normally have done that 2 years ago, 30 minutes faster?

How can I praise that she had a good day at work when she puts herself down as 'only a music teacher'?

How can I compliment her on her house keeping when she doesn't do the job properly?

If I do the cleaning then it causes a fight because she thinks that is her job to do.

I have repeatedly over the years told her that she looks fine, looks great and dresses well. She feels that she has a huge tummy, a huge backside, and saggy breasts. Only so much complimenting and praise can be done before it is just echoing off the brick wall.

I imagine that some people have their spouses as a best friend, but then who can you talk to when you need to vent about your partners / wife / husband situation.

The 10 points above sound sickly sweet, written by somebody recently fallen in to love, I am not able to see how I can apply any of the above points honestly to my current situation.”

Here is a woman begging to be loved. Everyone is at different stages of their lives. Sometimes we regress and sometimes we are at the top of our game. I can tell that this guy feels his wife is a disappointment. What never changes on any given day of our lives is our need to have support and love. If we constantly feel like a disappointment we are going to always need reassurance. His attitude is propagating the very problem he is trying to fix. 

I am constantly finding out how lucky I am to have Angela. Our days are filled with magic and I never feel like she is disappointed in me.  The best part is I always feel constant support. So today I would like to celebrate the best person I have ever met, my one true love and wife Angela. The world is as dark as your perception allows it to be. Although we may be “sickly sweet” I wouldn't have it any other way.

You Look Fat In That!

I love to go shopping with my wife! There are few things that give me more joy than walking down every aisle of a store with her arm in arm sharing our thoughts on absolutely everything. So when she starts trying things on in the dressing room I, of course, want to tell her my thoughts on things.

If you are reading this and said UH OH! Don't do it!! It's a trap! You would not be alone. When I got married the number one advice that I got from everyone was "The wife is always right and say she looks great in whatever she puts on."  The reasoning for this of course is "Women are insecure and can't take the truth" But what if I told you that you could actually tell a women she looks bad and she not only would laugh it off but would love you more for it? Don't believe me? Keep reading.

Fist thing, women CAN and SHOULD be told the truth always! The most important quality shared by all healthy meaningful relationships is sincerity. If you both can't be sincere you should not be with them. And don't worry this post is not going to be about how to tell her she "looks like something you'd draw with your left hand" in a tactful way. It's about appreciating who she is and really paying attention to notice the details.

Even the women in my life would tell me it's "dangerous ground" to critique a woman's outfit, however I get away with it all the time. Here is the trick: it's not about what you want it's about what she wants. An outfit should be all about how a person feels in it and not how they look to others in it. The real key is to really appreciate and get to know her. If you know she hates orange and puts something on that's orange she will not mind you saying let's find something you may like even better! This is because she knows that you are going to take the time to find the perfect fit for her and you have shown that you care what will make her happiest.

Use every opportunity to remind who you're with why it is you love them. Likes and dislikes are part of who people are. I'm grateful every day that I get to know my wife more and have deeper more loving communication about all things. 

WE ARE HOME OWNERS!

Angela and I did it! We have come so far from staring up at the ceiling of our empty apartment dreaming that we could afford our next rent check. No longer will we be throwing money away in the form of rent! We have hoped for the best and planned for the worst for so long it seems unreal that our dreams are coming true. It is truly an incredible feeling!!

I'm freaking out over this totally "adult" feeling of this huge decision! Angela and I made this thoughtfully together for years saving and looking. All we saw was that economic circumstances seemed not to be in our favor. Buying a home is one of life's most special experiences and we have been determined to make it happen. Now that it is from going house hunting to choosing the furniture, every step has been exciting! And now our voracious unbridled passion for decorating has started!

I can't stop thinking of all the possibilities down the line this opens for our family.

Even with our plan of saving and looking all the time economic circumstances seemed not to be in our favor. Anyone in the market knows house prices keep going up and interest rates started to go up with the election over. We found our dream home at the price we wanted at the perfect time for interest rates! And now we can experience the joy of never having to see a landlord again!

But more than anything I love my wife more than possessions or owning a house. I'm so grateful that we are so well off right now but when I look at Angela I know that I always have been.

Balloon Fiesta Adventure

This last weekend we went on a super amazing road trip to New Mexico for the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta! First, we went to the Grand Canyon and it was just as majestic as I remembered it. You never get used to the wonder of the Grand Canyon. It was nice just to dream together looking down at the canyon as if we were looking up at the stars. It's so nice to have someone you love spending time with.

On our way out of Grand Canyon National Park we stopped by Horseshoe Bend and snapped this photo.

Even though the Grand Canyon is amazing it was not the main event of this trip. But before we got to Albuquerque for the largest balloon show on earth we had to make one more stop. We were able to put our feet down on the Four Corners monument! So many bucket list items were checked off on this trip it's unreal!

Exploring with Angela is really like the John Denver song - You Fill Up My Senses. So relaxing and always just what I need.

Living life is nothing without the feelings associated with each thing you do. Each emotional state or reaction the world gives can be magical if you take the time to truly feel each thing you do. Simply being with Angela magnifies these experiences. Every adventure we go on seams to turn out perfectly. I mean just look at this picture of me "holding" a penguin balloon. Balloons of all shapes and sizes were everyone, the chances of this one coming down at just the right time to get this photo... It's just as magical and unbelievable as everything having to do with Angela. 

We arrived at the balloon fiesta at 4:30am Saturday the first and watched the Mass Ascension. We watched as the balloons glowing from the fire that lifts them got closer to the clouds that were illuminated by shades of every color of the sun rise. The pure scope and magnitude of this experience overwhelms the senses. And then before we knew it the sun was up and the balloons filed the entirety of the sky. Even this photo Angela took cannot do this experience justice.

I hope we can go back soon. But more than that I can't wait for our next adventure together! Oh and I almost forgot, we got to go in an ice cave too!